Skip to main content

“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.”

Graffitis on Tehran’s walls, close to some specific places sent a Kurdish filmmaker to prison. The new film of Keyvan Karimi, ‘Writing on the City’ was shot at scenes related to the protests following the 2009 presidential election. Two weeks ago, Karimi was sentenced to six years in prison and 223 lashes by the Tehran Revolutionary Court. His charges: 'insulting the sacred' and 'illegitimate relations'.

As Karimi's lawyer highlights “The maximum penalty for insulting the sacred is five years, but…Judge Moghisseh has condemned him to six years in prison”.

The lawyer added: Iran’s Islamic Penal Code states that an individual should serve no more than the maximum sentence for the charge carrying the heaviest penalty, in cases of multiple charges. Based on that, the sentence imposed on Karimi was unlawful. 

A source close to the filmmaker said that Karimi’s Kurdish and Sunni background may also have contributed to his harsh sentence. Iran’s Kurdish ethnic minority and Sunni Muslim religious  minority face systematic discrimination and persecution.

Just to mention another, unlawful detention, there are some sad updates on the fate of Jason Rezaian. 

Two weeks ago, after months of imprisonment, the Washington Post correspondent learned of his conviction by watching the state television.

Rezaian was arrested at his home in Tehran in July 2014 and held for months without being informed of the charges against him. In April 2015, he was formally charged with espionage, 'acting against the holy Islamic Republic', and 'endangering national security'.
(Source: http://en.iranwire.com/ by Shahrock Heldari)

The Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron said: “He has spent nearly 15 months locked up in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, more than three times as long than any other western journalists.” 

To justify the accusations against him, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards prepared a short video. The film explains that the jailed journalist was part of an extensive spy network at the time of his arrest.

As the IranWire, a joint venture of a group of Iranian journalists in the Diaspora, writes:
“Contrary to statements made by Rezaian’s family, lawyer and colleagues, the film argues, albeit unconvincingly, that not only was the journalist acting illegally at the time of his arrest, but that he had been privy to plans for unrest following the 2009 disputed presidential election [..] and was part of a larger, US-led operation to undermine the Islamic Republic and turn the public against the regime.”

Rezaian's case has been poisoning the US-Iranian relationship for a long time. Now it is America's turn to reply to this video full of accusations.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Hidden from critical view: the disappeared of Cameroon

As the number of military personnel deployed to fight Boko Haram in the Far North Region of Cameroon has increased, the number of people detained without trial on suspicion of supporting the armed group has gone up, as well. Families and communities torn apart Since 2014, Cameroon’s security forces have arrested hundreds of people without charge during security operations. One man from the village of Double told us how security forces raided the village in search of suspected Boko Haram fighters: “Early in the morning, we heard gunshots and thought it was Boko Haram. We were scared and fled to the bush; then people called us to say it wasn’t Boko Haram, but the security forces, so we came back thinking we were safe. However, to our great surprise, those forces made us suffer even more than Boko Haram.” During this operation carried out in Double and in the neighbouring community, Magdeme, nine people were killed and more than 200 boys and men arbitrar...
Read more

Educating the Western youth

In a rare occasion to reach out to the West without pure condemnation, Iran’s Supreme Leader sent an important message to the American and European youth . The aim of the letter was to stress that the Islam they know is based on a forged concept and doesn’t reflect the reality. Therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei encouraged the younger generation in the West to do research and get firsthand information on the religion. www.wsj.com In his letter, Mr Khamenei asks youngsters whether they “ have directly read the Qur’an of the Muslims .” He goes on by questioning: “Have you ever received the message of Islam from any sources other than the media?” Moreover, the Iranian leader calls on the youth to ask themselves “why the old policy of spreading ‘phobia’ and hatred has targeted Islam and Muslims with an unprecedented intensity. [..] What concepts and values in Islam disturb the programs of the super powers and what interests are safeguarded in the shadow of distorting the image of Islam...
Read more

How should Cameroon fight Boko Haram?

The Cameroonian security forces don't take into account how many lives they sacrifice when it comes to eradicating the Islamist group, Boko Haram. Amnesty International revealed in its new report that t he military offensive against Boko Haram has resulted in widespread human rights violations against civilians in the Far North region of the country. During search-and-cordon operations, security forces  often arrest people on the basis of very little information or assumptions and sometimes they detain whole groups. In February 2015 for example,  in Kossa,  32 men were arrested based on accusations that the village was providing food to Boko Haram. Most were later released, but one man died in custody. After being arrested, people are far too often held incommunicado at illegal detention sites in military bases, before being transferred to the official prisons. And, as Amnesty International learnt, in secret detention, torture is not a rare method to encoura...
Read more